Growing your practice
Are accountant directories and comparison sites worth it?
By Kaiser Khan · Updated 9 July 2026
The comparison that actually matters: cost per retained client
Work each channel back to one number. Google Ads: at £5 a click, a 5% click-to-enquiry rate and one-in-three close rate, a client costs roughly £300 — before the agency fee or your landing-page time. A £35 comparison lead closing at one-in-three costs £105. A referral costs 'nothing' but arrives at word-of-mouth speed. Networking costs your evenings for months before it pays. None of these numbers is scary against a £4,000+ lifetime client — the mistake is not tracking them at all.
What separates good platforms from listing farms
Useful signals: the platform shows real information buyers compare on (fees, qualifications, verification) rather than just names; leads arrive because a buyer picked your firm, not because your details were blasted to everyone; pricing is transparent (per-lead or subscription, stated up front); and your details aren't resold beyond the enquiry. Listing farms — pay £30 a year, appear in a list of forty identical entries — mostly sell citation value for local SEO, which is fine, but don't expect the phone to ring.
How to run the test properly
Claim the free listing, complete the profile fully (services, fees, website — incomplete profiles convert poorly everywhere and make any platform look bad), then track for a quarter: enquiries received, how many were genuinely in your market, how many converted, and revenue won. Upgrade on the platforms where the data works; drop the rest without sentiment. Treat lead generation like you'd tell a client to treat any supplier — on measured return.
People also ask
Why do some accountants say directories are a waste of money?
Usually one of three reasons: they paid for placement with an incomplete profile that couldn't convert, the platform sold untargeted contact-detail leads rather than buyers who chose them, or they never tracked results and are guessing. The channel works when the platform is honest and the profile is complete.
Per-lead or subscription — which is better?
Per-lead suits firms testing a platform or wanting a strict cost ceiling. Subscriptions win once volume is proven — a tier with included leads beats per-lead pricing as soon as you'd buy that many anyway. Start per-lead, graduate on evidence.
Do directories hurt my own website's SEO?
No — consistent listings with a link back generally help local SEO. The thing to avoid is inconsistent name/address/phone data across platforms, which dilutes the local signals Google uses.
This article is general information for UK businesses, not tax, legal, or financial advice, and thresholds change — confirm current rules on GOV.UK or with a qualified accountant before acting. Fee figures are indicative benchmarks from ourmethodology.